The people of Seemanchal area in Bihar woke up today morning with the shock of mild tremors at 5.10 am. A low intensity earthquake measuring 4.9 in Richter scale hits the Indo-Nepal border region near Bihar and West Bengal. The earthquake wreaks havoc among the people residing in the districts of Kishanganj, Purnia, Araria, Katihar, Bhagalpur, and Uttar Dinajpur and Darjeeling districts in West Bengal. People came out of their houses and spent hours in fear of the possibility of experiencing the next tremor.
Till the report is written, no loss of life or damage to property has been reported from anywhere in Bihar and West Bengal. As per the Indian Meteorological department (IMD), the earthquake had the epicentre at Latitude 26.1°N and Longitude 87.8°E near Biratnagar in Nepal at a depth of 40 km from the earth’s surface. The epicentre was 63 km south east of Biratnagar, 63 km north north east of Katihar in Bihar and 395 km north of Kolkata (Calcutta).
Today’s earthquake is the 19th to have been recorded in India this year. Few months back the same areas in the Indo-Nepal border had suffered a major earthquake. The Indian state of Sikkim was badly damaged by the tremors measuring more than 6 in Richter Scale. It should be noted that the Indo-Nepal border comes under the highly seismic zone and the region is always in danger of getting major earthquake.
